During our college education, we are expected to attend classes and have tons of extra-curricular activities while still trying to maintain a respectable social life. Well, Circle K is a great way to get involved on your own time without taking up too much of it. Circle Kʼs main goal is to help other people in the form of volunteering. Not only will this make you feel like a better person, but it looks great on final transcripts. The officers of the club understand that students lead busy lives and they do not want to take over their club membersʼ lives. Therefore, members are allowed to choose which activities they want to participate in based on availability and interest, and sign up for them. Meetings are held once a week on Tuesday night on the second floor of Sykes Student Union. Notes are taken at every meeting about what was said during the meeting and are then e-mailed to all the members.
There are many different kinds of activities that the group participates in. Weekly, some members go to a local day-care center to help with the kids, where they clean toys or play with the chldren. They have also been participants in a haunted house in West Chester during Halloween. Some events happen every year so the older members have experience with them.
They relate their experiences to the other members and the group decides whether or not to participate. New ideas are always welcome and taken into consideration by the board members. Within the volunteering communitym, there are two other groups very similar to Circle K. Kiwanis and Key Club are volunteer clubs also, but the first is for adults and the latter for high school students.
Kiwanis was actually the first organization and started the other two. Kiwanis has many different chapters with members from all over the United States. The group was formed in 1915 in Detroit and was first meant to promote the exchange of business among its members. However, in addition to that, they were also handing out Christmas baskets to the poor. A debate soon started between those who wanted their mission to be volunteering and those who wanted to promote business. The volunteering advocates won the debate in 1919.
In 1939 Kiwanis had the idea to start another junior group, this time for young adults and college students that would eventually be named Circle K. The group was first started as a fraternity, but later evolved to include both sexes.
Circle Kʼs mission statement states that the club is for “college and university students who are responsible citizens and leaders with a lifelong commitment to community service worldwide.” West Chesterʼs Circle K Club strives to fulfill this goal every year.